System and Method for Navigating a Mobile Device User Interface with a Directional Sensing Device

1. An electronic mobile device comprising: a display for displaying a graphical element; a tilt sensor configured to measure a tilt angle of the mobile device; and a processor configured to: store the measured tilt angle as a reference tilt angle; determine a delta tilt angle as the difference between a currently measured tilt angle and the reference tilt angle; and alter the position of the displayed element on the display based on the delta tilt angle.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , further comprising a manual input device configured to be actuated by a user, and wherein the processor stores the reference tilt angle in response to the manual input device being manually actuated.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the processor does not alter the position of the displayed element if the delta tilt angle does not exceed a threshold.

4. The mobile device of claim 3 , wherein the position of the displayed element on the display is altered at a rate based on the difference between the delta tilt angle and the threshold.

5. The mobile device of claim 3 , wherein the position of the displayed element on the display is altered at a rate based on an amount of time that the delta tilt angle has exceeded the threshold.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the displayed element is a list of items.

7. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the displayed element is a pointer that designates an item among a list of items displayed by the display.

8. The mobile device of claim 2 , wherein the manual input device is a thumb wheel with which a user can adjust the displayed element without tilting the mobile device.

9. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to sense two orthogonal tilt angles of the mobile device, and the processor is configured to alter the displayed element in two orthogonal directions based respectively on the two tilt angles.

10. A method for controlling a graphical element displayed on an electronic mobile device, comprising: displaying the graphical element on the electronic mobile device; measuring a tilt angle of the mobile device; storing the measured tilt angle as a reference tilt angle; determining a delta tilt angle as the difference between a currently measured tilt angle and the reference tilt angle; and altering the position of the displayed element based on the delta tilt angle.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving an input from a manual input device, and storing the reference tilt angle in response to the input.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the position of the displayed element is not altered if the delta tilt angle does not exceed a threshold.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the position of the displayed element on the display is altered at a rate based on the difference between the delta tilt angle and the threshold.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the position of the displayed element on the display is altered at a rate based on an amount of time that the delta tilt angle has exceeded the threshold.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the displayed element is a list of items.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the displayed element is a pointer that designates an item among a list of items displayed.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the manual input device is a thumb wheel with which a user can adjust the displayed element without tilting the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein two orthogonal tilt angles of the mobile device are sensed, and the displayed element is altered in two orthogonal directions based respectively on the two tilt angles.